Pursuit reached speeds over 60 mph

Two people entered provisional not guilty pleas Wednesday in Freeborn County District Court to allegedly fleeing officers in a stolen vehicle earlier this month in Albert Lea.

Matthew James Rowand, 32, of Minneapolis and Elana Shira Lenze, 43, of Eagan made their first appearance Wednesday with a lawyer.

Rowand is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and fleeing a peace officer by a means other than a motor vehicle.

Lenze faces charges of receiving stolen property, fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and fleeing a peace officer by a means other than a motor vehicle.

According to court documents, Rowand and Lenze were charged after a police officer learned that a license plate of the car the two were driving didn’t match the vehicle Dec. 13. A vehicle they were in reportedly pulled out of a parking lot and an officer, driving a fully-marked patrol vehicle, pulled behind the vehicle traveling on North Broadway.

Three officers attempted to stop the vehicle at the intersection of North Broadway and Fountain Street, but the vehicle reportedly accelerated through a stop sign and turned east on Fountain Street. The vehicle then reportedly ran another stop sign and turned north on Bridge Avenue while officers began chasing the vehicle with emergency lights and sirens on.

The vehicle reportedly continued north on Bridge Avenue, crossing the center line multiple times and traveling at a high speed, estimated at more than 60 mph, according to court documents. The speed limit on the south portion of Bridge Avenue is 30 mph.

The vehicle reportedly eventually came to a stop in front of a residence just north of the intersection of Bridge Avenue and Hawthorne Street. Officers reportedly observed Rowand climb over Lenze and exit the vehicle through the passenger door. Lenze reportedly exited the vehicle after Rowand, and both reportedly began to flee the officers on foot. The officers reportedly chased them on foot and apprehended them in the driveway of an adjacent residence.

The vehicle had been reported stolen in Minneapolis Nov. 28.

Rowand and Lenze were arrested and transported to the Freeborn County jail.

Upon arriving at the jail, an officer reportedly searched a purse that Lenze had been holding when she was arrested. In a side pocket, the officer found a pipe with burned residue in the bulb and white, cloudy reside in the stem, according to the complaint. The pipe reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine.

The officer reportedly found documents and credit cards bearing Lenze’s name, as well as the registration for the stolen vehicle.

Settlement conferences for Rowand and Lenze are scheduled for March 9, and jury trials are scheduled for June 14.

The stolen property charge and the fifth-degree possession charge each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.